Doom Patrol

It’s already a hit with DC Comics aficionados lucky enough to land a screener. For the rest of us, this offbeat superhero tale is a refreshingly twisted tale accentuated by the unlikely casting of Fraser and Dalton.

I found the first hour of this oddball adventure far more enjoyable and consistent than DC Universe’s “Titans,” enlivened by sharp direction and a great ensemble.

DC Universe has debuted Doom Patrol, and the show is absurdly watchable. Bananas, yes, but enjoyably bananas.

This adaptation from executive producers Geoff Johns and Greg Berlanti (behind all the CW superhero shows) is just as wonderful and weird as the comic.

DC Universe rolled the dice with this line, but despite its tongue-in-cheek self-deprecation, it has its first good live-action show--and it’s all thanks to taking risks.

The series is refreshingly self-aware, both in the hilarious meta narration by Alan Tudyk as the team’s archenemy Mr. Nobody. ... And in its more fundamental understanding that if you make a show about these characters, you’d best come weird or not come at all. Its highs aren’t as high, but it’s more consistently satisfying.

Dressing up the standard superteam tropes with this kind of metafictional framework could get old fast. But a show that gives you a donkey who spells out messages in big green clouds of flatulence gets at least one more week from me.

Doom Patrol offers an entertaining, illuminating pilot episode that distinguishes itself by doing a deep dive into the backstories of its characters.

Doom Patrol’s second episode takes another tour through origin fatigue, sending some characters into hallucinations of their sorrowful past lives. ... The Cyborg subplot takes a detour I legitimately didn’t see coming, and the longer plan for Doom Patrol starts to look quite a bit trickier. The show seems to be trying to recapture the magic Morrison brought to these characters.

The two episodes sent to critics are three or four different superhero origin stories rolled into one, occasionally tip-toeing in the direction of a bigger ongoing narrative, without seeming wholly interested in anything more than being quippy, clever and, in its best moments, oddly sweet.

In terms of tone, performances, and overall enjoyment, Doom Patrol is a blast. But as a single, isolated piece of story, the pilot--the only chapter not under embargo--can be a front-loaded chore to get through.